In the last presidential election, some political pundits referred to the “Catholic vote,” one that predicted Donald Trump’s rise to the presidency, and one that aligned in 2016 with the voting constituency that landed him the White House: overwhelmingly white and politically conservative voters.
The U.S. bishops, aware of the growing numbers of Catholics in the country who are of Hispanic origin, voted to write a new pastoral plan for Latino Catholics that would be produced sometime between 2021 and 2024.
While immigration remains a political flashpoint in the United States, Catholic Church leaders continue their efforts to stand with migrants in the face of opposition and will once more come together on both sides of the border with a Mass this weekend.
In the Diocese of Brooklyn, three different charismatic movements that are popular among Hispanic Catholics — the Neocatechumenal Way, the Cursillo and the Jornadas — are giving people something different to keep them inside the church…
A Pew Research Center study released on Oct. 17 shows that Americans who identify as “nones” — those describing themselves as atheists or agnostics or having no religious affiliation — are the biggest group in the country, outnumbering Catholics.
St. Finbar Catholic Church, Bath Beach — long a parish known for welcoming immigrants — honored the many Guatemalans in its community with a vigil Mass, procession and fiesta on Sept. 28 to celebrate the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel.
At the dedication Mass, readings were done in Tagalog, Spanish, English and Mandarin. The church has parishioners from almost 50 countries, according to pastor Father John Vesey, and has seven Masses every Sunday. Some services were cancelled on Sept. 22 to encourage parishioners to attend the dedication Mass.
You can’t spell “theology,” the study of God, without T-H-E-O, as in Father Theo, the beloved and scholarly retired priest in residence at Immaculate Conception, Jamaica, who celebrated his 45th year at the parish with a Mass of thanksgiving on Sept. 15. Father Theophane Cooley, C.P., 91, who’s originally from Dublin, speaks five languages and has taught philosophy and Latin. But perhaps he’s best known as a kind and caring priest.
If you attend any major Catholic gathering throughout the United States, chances are that talks are offered in the two predominant languages in which most Catholics worship in the country, namely English and Spanish.
If we were to place one currently active Hispanic priest in every parish with Hispanic ministry, about 1,768 parish communities would not get that privilege.
